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Driver file glossary
Short definitions for US FMCSA and Canadian NSC terms. Educational only, not legal advice.
Short answer
A DQ file is the carrier’s proof the driver was qualified. An MVR is the US state driving record; a driving abstract is the Canadian equivalent. CVOR is Ontario’s carrier program, not a driver abstract. Clearinghouse is the US CDL drug-and-alcohol database. None of these documents replace each other.
- Driver qualification (DQ) file
- The carrier’s packet of evidence that a driver was qualified to operate a commercial vehicle on the days they drove. In the US the core list is 49 CFR Part 391. In Canada it is the provincial NSC driver file built around Standard 7 themes.
- 49 CFR Part 391
- US FMCSA rule on qualifications of drivers. It covers applications, investigations, road tests, medical certification, annual driving-record reviews, disqualification, and the contents of the qualification file (391.51).
- 391.51
- The US filing rule: which documents must be in each driver’s qualification file and how long to keep them. The file is retained for as long as the driver is employed and three years after; specified items inside it - the annual MVR, the annual review note, medical certification evidence, any medical variance - may be removed three years after execution.
- MVR (motor vehicle record)
- A US state driving record. Carriers pull it at hire (391.23) and at least annually (391.25). It is not a Canadian driving abstract.
- CDLIS MVR
- The motor vehicle record drawn from the Commercial Driver’s License Information System. Since the Medical Examiner’s Certification Integration took effect on June 23, 2025, it is where a CDL or CLP holder’s medical certification status appears, and it is the medical evidence the carrier keeps in place of a photocopied paper card.
- National Registry II (NRII)
- The FMCSA system that carries a completed DOT physical from the certified medical examiner to FMCSA, and on to the state driver licensing agency, where it attaches to the driver’s CDLIS record. Examiners transmit by midnight of the next calendar day. Not every state had implemented it as of August 2026.
- Driving abstract
- The Canadian provincial or territorial driving-history product. Issued with a lookback (commonly 3 or 5 years) and often as certified or uncertified versions. Used at hire and on the cadence in the carrier’s safety program.
- CVOR
- Commercial Vehicle Operator’s Registration, Ontario’s carrier safety-fitness program. The CVOR abstract is a carrier-level record. It does not replace each driver’s personal abstract in the driver file.
- NSC Standard 7
- Canadian National Safety Code model for carrier and driver profiles. Provinces implement it through their own safety-fitness programs. Safety officers use it as the shared blueprint for what a driver file should be able to prove.
- Medical examiner’s certificate
- The US DOT medical card issued by a certified examiner, often valid up to 24 months and sometimes shorter. For CDL and CLP holders the certification now reaches the carrier through the CDLIS MVR rather than a filed photocopy; non-CDL CMV drivers still keep the certificate itself. An expired certification means the driver is not qualified, even if the plastic licence is still in the wallet. Canadian medical fitness is a provincial licence process, not this card.
- FMCSA Clearinghouse
- US federal database of CDL drug and alcohol program violations. Employers run a full query before hiring (specific consent) and at least one query every 12 months for each CDL driver they employ. It does not replace a provincial abstract or a criminal background check.
- Limited query
- The Clearinghouse query that answers only whether a driver has any information in their record, without releasing detail. It satisfies the annual requirement under general consent. If it comes back showing information exists, a full query must follow within 24 hours or the driver comes off safety-sensitive work.
- Annual review (391.25)
- Once every 12 months the US carrier inquires with each state of licensure, reviews the driving record, and makes a note that the review was performed. Pulling an MVR without the note is an incomplete annual - and since the driver’s own list of violations was rescinded in 2022, that note is the whole of the carrier’s side of the exercise.
- List of violations (391.27) - rescinded
- The driver’s own annual statement of motor-vehicle convictions, formerly required every 12 months. FMCSA rescinded 391.27 effective May 9, 2022, because the annual MVR inquiry already reports the same convictions from the authoritative source. A missing violations list is no longer a finding. Many vendor checklists and inherited binders still ask for it.
- Safety performance history (391.23)
- The investigation of prior DOT employers from the previous three years, plus the state MVR inquiry, launched with driver authorization. Keep requests, responses, and good-faith follow-up when a prior employer does not reply.
- Road test certificate (391.31 / 391.33)
- Proof the driver was tested in the class of vehicle they will operate, or that the carrier accepted a valid CDL (or other allowed equivalent) instead of running its own test.
- Part 382 program file
- Restricted cabinet for US drug and alcohol testing records. Different retention clocks from the DQ file (often one year vs five years). Operational staff should see “cleared,” not laboratory PDFs.
- Hours-of-service (HOS) records
- Logs, ELD data, and supporting documents. Sampled on their own retention clock (often months, not years). They prove hours, not qualification. Keep them findable for the driver, but not mixed as if they were the DQ file.
- FAST card
- Free and Secure Trade trusted-trader card used at the Canada-US border. It is a travel credential with its own expiry. It does not prove Part 391 or NSC qualification. Keep it beside the driver file for dispatch and eManifest, labelled as a border document.
- CDL vs non-CDL CMV
- A CDL is one licence class. A commercial motor vehicle under Part 391 can include interstate trucks that do not require a CDL. Those drivers often still need a DQ file (application, MVR, medical, annual review) without Clearinghouse.
- Owner-operator file
- If the load runs under a motor carrier’s authority, that carrier keeps the qualification file. If the operator holds their own USDOT or NSC number, they keep a file on themselves. Leases should name who pulls medicals, MVRs or abstracts, and Clearinghouse queries.
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